The practice of medicine is evolving at a pace, but we question our enchantment with the illuminations of virtual reality, AI and the metaverse and ask what it means to be a doctor in the 21st Century. Are we forgetting the essence of healing and being sentient?

Throughout ancient history healers believed it was not possible to heal the body without reference to the mind and the soul. They believed that vitality was held in a delicate balance and disease was considered an outward manifestation of an imbalance. The embodiment of the person was considered essential to the healing practice.

The patient needs an empathetic ear, to share the discomfort of their physical or mental state without the reported interruption at twenty seconds. Disease conveyor belts and the pressures created by the system affords little time and ignores the benefits or the need of the healer to be present. This is confounded and exacerbated by tick box clerking forms that detract from the art of eliciting a history and reading the body language of the patient. Empathy is for all healthcare providers to embrace and this needs to be a thread through all professional development. Empathy is a capacity to understand the feelings of others and compassion naturally follows. As Theodore Roosevelt said “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Will patient care and healing deteriorate without the human touch?

Clinical acumen is important but are we allowing that to develop in the next generation of medical doctors? Are clinical skills necessary if diagnostic skills are being consolidated in handheld devices? Are we at risk of atomising the practice of medicine and forgetting the principle of healing as recognised by ancient and yesteryear practitioners? If yes; it begs the question, is a doctor necessary? The transformative power of touch of the healing hand in medicine was eloquently described in the TED talk by Dr A. Verghese. Is clinical examination and its benefits to doctor and patient is threatened with extinction by the arrival of modern imaging.

The qualities necessary to be a healer have been defined by history. We should not sacrifice the embodiment of the patient to digital demands. Della Fish said in conversation we should encourage ‘seeing with the heart’ – knowing is not being limited to arid Aristotle reasoning. There is more to being as Fish suggests ‘Mind your heart’, by which we mean both that we should look after our heart, and also that we should listen to its wisdom. We explore this element of medicine in our discussions.